gurjar

The word Gujjar represents a caste, a tribe and a group in India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, locally referred to as jati, zaat, qaum or biradari.{{cite book|author=Gloria Goodwin Raheja|url=https://archive.org/details/poisoningiftritu0000rahe|url-access=registration|title=The Poison in the Gift: Ritual, Prestation, and the Dominant Caste in a North Indian Village|date=15 September 1988|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-70729-7|pages=[https://archive.org/details/poisoningiftritu0000rahe/page/n16 01]–03|quote=This regional dominance and the kingship (rajya) exercised by Gurjar chiefs still figure prominently in oral traditions current among Saharanpur Gurjars and in the depiction of their identity as Ksatriya "kings" in printed histories of the Gujar Jati.}}{{cite book|author=Muhammad Asghar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=utd7DQAAQBAJ&pg=PA10|title=The Sacred and the Secular: Aesthetics in Domestic Spaces of Pakistan/Punjab|publisher=LIT Verlag Münster|year=2016|isbn=978-3-643-90836-0|page=10|quote=The main grouping is the biradari, which is a very old established norm of people identifying themselves ... A larger and also ancient form of grouping is the caste (qaum). The three main ones are Jaats (farmers), Arains (who traditionally were gardeners) and Gujjars (people who tend livestock and sell milk).}}

It has been suggested by several historians that Gurjara was initially the name of a tribe or clan which later evolved into a geographical and ethnic identity following the establishment of a janapada (tribal kingdom) called 'Gurjara'.{{sfn|Chattopadhyaya|1994|p=6}} This understanding has introduced an element of ambiguity regarding ancient royal designations containing the word 'gurjara' such as gurjaraeshvara or gurjararaja, as now it is debatable whether the kings bearing these epithets were tribal or ethnic Gurjaras.{{Cite journal |last=Sharma |first=Sanjay |date=2006 |title=Negotiating Identity and Status |journal=Studies in History |volume=22 |issue=2 |pages=181–220 |doi=10.1177/025764300602200202 |s2cid=144128358 |issn=0257-6430}}{{Cite journal |last=Sharma |first=Shanta Rani |date=2012 |title=Exploding the Myth of the Gūjara Identity of the Imperial Pratihāras |journal=Indian Historical Review |volume=39 |issue=1 |pages=1–10 |doi=10.1177/0376983612449525 |s2cid=145175448 |issn=0376-9836}}

Historians and anthropologists differ on the issue of Gurjar origin. According to one view, circa 1 CE, the ancient ancestors of the Gurjars came in multiple waves of migration and were initially accorded status as high-caste warriors in the Hindu fold in the North-Western regions (modern Rajasthan and Gujarat).{{harvnb|Singh|2012|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=oscmJoix2IAC&pg=PA44 44–]}} Aydogdy Kurbanov states that some Gurjars, along with people from northwestern India, merged with the Hephthalites to become the Rajput clan.{{cite web |url=http://www.diss.fu-berlin.de/diss/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/FUDISS_derivate_000000007165/01_Text.pdf |title=The Hephthalites: Archaeological and Historical Analysis |last=Kurbanov |first=Aydogdy |page=243 |year=2010 |access-date=11 January 2013 |quote=As a result of the merging of the Hephthalites and the Gujars with population from northwestern India, the Rajputs (from Sanskrit "rajputra" – "son of the rajah") formed.}}

Previously, it was believed that the Gurjars had migrated earlier on from Central Asia as well, however, this view is generally considered to be speculative.{{cite book |last=Mayaram |first=Shail |chapter=The Story of the Gujars |editor=Vijaya Ramaswamy |title=Migrations in Medieval and Early Colonial India |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DzcrDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA67 |date=2017 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-351-55825-9 |pages=67}}

According to B. D. Chattopadhyaya, historical references speak of Gurjara warriors and commoners in North India in the 7th century CE, and mention several Gurjara kingdoms and dynasties.{{sfn|Chattopadhyaya|1994|p=64|ps=. "documents dating from seventh century suggest a wide distribution of Gurjaras as a political power in western India"}} However, according to Tanuja Kothiyal, the historical image of Gurjars is that of "ignorant" herders, though historical claims of Gurjar past also associate them with Gurjara-Pratiharas. She cites a myth that any Rajput claim Gurjars may have comes through a Rajput marrying a Brahmin woman, and not through an older Kshatriya clan.{{Cite book |last=Kothiyal |first=Tanuja |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=be-7CwAAQBAJ&q=tanuja+kothiyal+book |title=Nomadic Narratives: A History of Mobility and Identity in the Great Indian Desert |date=14 March 2016 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-08031-7 |pages=249–250 |language=en |quote=The cultural image of the Gujar is of an ignorant herder though the historical claims of Gujar past also associate them with Gurjara-Pratiharas, with long migrations through Thar. However, as the Devnarayan epic reveals, any Rajput link that the Gujars may claim, comes from multi-caste marriages that are contracted in the course of the epic rather than any other claim to descent from the older kshatriya clan. The original ancestor of the Gujars is a Rajput, who marries a Brahmin woman.}} She says that the historical process suggests the opposite: that Rajputs emerged from other communities, such as Gurjars, Jats, Raikas etc.{{Cite book |last=Kothiyal |first=Tanuja |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=be-7CwAAQBAJ&q=tanuja+kothiyal+book |title=Nomadic Narratives: A History of Mobility and Identity in the Great Indian Desert |date=14 March 2016 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-08031-7 |pages=265 |language=en |quote=from gradual transformation of mobile pastoral and tribal groups into landed sedentary ones. The process of settlement involved both control over mobile resources through raids, battles and trade as well as channelizing of these resources into agrarian expansion. Kinship structures as well as marital and martial alliances were instrumental in this transformation. ... In the colonial ethnographic accounts rather than referring to Rajputs as having emerged from other communities, Bhils, Mers, Minas, Gujars, Jats, Raikas, all lay a claim to a Rajput past from where they claim to have 'fallen'. Historical processes, however, suggest just the opposite.}}

The oldest known reference to the word Gurjara is found in the book called Harshacharita (Harsha's Deeds), a biography of king Harshavardhana written around 630 CE.{{cite book |last=Puri |first=Baij Nath |author-link=Baij Nath Puri |title=The History of the Gurjara-Pratiharas |publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal |location=Delhi |year=1986 |page=9}} Banabhatta, the author of Harshacharita, mentions that Harsha's father Prabhakravardhana (560-580 CE) was "a constant threat to the sleep of Gurjara"—apparently a reference to the Gurjara king or kingdom. Inscriptions from a collateral branch of Gurjaras, known as Gurjaras of Lata, claim that their family was ruling Bharakucha (Bharuch) as early as 450 CE from their capital at Nandipuri.

According to scholars such as Baij Nath Puri, the Mount Abu (ancient Arbuda Mountain) region of present-day Rajasthan had been an abode of the Gurjars during the medieval period.{{cite book|title=Gurjars of Jammu and Kashmir|author=Kulbhushan Warikoo|author2=Sujit Som|publisher=Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya|quote=Dr. B. N. Puri who wrote a thesis Gurjar Pratihar at oxford university states that the Gurjars were local people}} These Gurjars migrated from the Abu mountain region and as early as in the 6th century CE, they set up one or more principalities in Rajasthan and Gujarat. The whole or a larger part of Rajasthan and Gujarat had been long known as Gurjaratra (country ruled or protected by the Gurjars) or Gurjarabhumi (land of the Gurjars) for centuries prior to the Mughal period.{{cite book|title=The History and Culture of the Indian People: The classical age|author=Ramesh Chandra Majumdar|author2=Achut Dattatrya Pusalker |author3=A. K. Majumdar |author4=Dilip Kumar Ghose |author5=Vishvanath Govind Dighe |author6=Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan |publisher=Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan|year=1977|page=153}}

In Sanskrit texts, the ethnonym has sometimes been interpreted as "destroyer of the enemy": gur meaning "enemy" and ujjar meaning "destroyer").{{Cite book |last1=Warikoo |first1=Kulbhushan |last2=Som |first2=Sujit |title=Gurjars of Jammu and Kashmir |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zxtuAAAAMAAJ |publisher=Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya |page=4 |quote="Gurjar" is a Sanskrit word which has been explained thus: Gur+Ujjar;'Gur' means 'enemy' and 'ujjar' means 'destroyer'. The word means "Destroyer of the enemy". |date=2000}}{{Cite book |title=Gurjara aura Unakā Itihāsa meṃ Yogadāna Vishaya para Prathama …, Volume 2 |first=Bhāratīya Gurjara |last=Parishada |year=1993 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9kwIAAAAIAAJ |publisher=Bharatiya Gurjar Parisha |page=27 |quote=Sanskrit Dictionary Compiled by Pandit Radha Kant (Shakabada 1181) explains: Gurjar=Gur (enemy)+Ujar(destroyer)}}

Babur, in the context of revolt, wrote that Jats and Gujjars poured down from hills in vast numbers in order to carry off oxen and buffaloes and that they were guilty of the severest oppression in the country.{{cite book|author=Shail Mayaram|title=Against History, Against State: Counterperspectives from the Margins|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zL-7m2MDp2EC|year=2004|publisher=Permanent Black|isbn=978-81-7824-096-1| pages = 94}}

Many Gurjars were converted to Islam at various times, dating back to Mahmud of Ghazni's raid in Gujarat in 1026. Gurjars of Awadh and Meerut date their conversion to Tamerlane, when he sacked Delhi and forcibly converted them. By 1525, when Babur invaded India, he saw that the Gurjars of northern Punjab were already Muslims. Until the 1700s, conversions continued under Aurangzeb, who converted the Gurjars of Himachal Pradesh by force. Pathans and Balochis drove Gurjar converts out of their land, forcing them into vagrancy.Sharma, J. C., (1984). "Gujars". In {{cite book

| title = Muslim Peoples: A World Ethnographic Survey

| volume = 1

| pages = 298–301}} edited by Richard V. Weekes. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press.

File:Goojur_Sirdars_of_Rajpootana.jpg

File:Two Gurjar (also transliterated as Gujjar, Gujar, Gurjara, & Gujjer) Men on a Pavement and a Woman in a Doorway in Delhi, Shepherd & Robertson (possibly), ca.1859–69.png

In the 18th century, several Gurjar chieftains and small kings were in power. A fort in Parikshitgarh in Meerut district, also known as Qila Parikishatgarh, is ascribed to a Gurjar king Nain Singh Nagar.{{cite web

|url=http://meerut.nic.in/tourist.htm

|title=Tourist Places

|publisher=District Administration Meerut

|access-date=31 May 2007

|url-status=dead

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090619074812/http://meerut.nic.in/tourist.htm

|archive-date=19 June 2009 }}{{better source needed|date=October 2023}} Morena, Samthar, Dholpur, Saharanpur and Roorkee were also some of the places ruled by Gurjar kings.{{cite web |url = https://roorkee.cantt.gov.in/history/ |title = Roorkee Cantonment Board - History |access-date = 2 September 2021 }}{{cite web |url = https://chambaldivisionmp.nic.in/en/culture-heritage/ |title = Culture & Heritage |access-date = 20 September 2021}} Bhati Clan of Gurjars had significance influence in Bulandshahr joint magistracy. Rao Roshan Singh of Bhati clan was a landlord of wide area till 1812, other chiefs of this clan were, Shambu Singh, Ajit singh and Dargahi Singh Bhati. The Bhati Gurjars in this area had somewhat similar position as the Gurjar Rajas of Saharanpur area.{{Cite book

| last = Kolff

| first =Dirk H.A.

|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9955DwAAQBAJ&dq=bhatti+gujars&pg=PA149

| title =Grass in their mouths: The Upper Doab of India under the company's Magna Charta, 1793-1830

| publisher =Brill

|date=13 August 2010

|isbn=978-90-04-18802-0

| page =149

}}

In Delhi, the Metcalfe House was sacked by Gurjar villagers from whom the land had been taken to erect the building.{{Cite book

| last =Sen

| first =Geeti

|author2=Ashis Banerjee

| title =The Human Landscape

| publisher =Orient Longman

|year=2001

|isbn=978-81-250-2045-5

| page =236

}} In September 1857, the British were able to enlist the support of many Gurjars at Meerut.{{Cite magazine

|title=The Adivasis of India – A History of Discrimination, Conflict, and Resistance

|author=C.R. Bijoy

|magazine=PUCL Bulletin

|publisher=People's Union for Civil Liberties

|pages=55–61

|date=February 2003

}}

File:Bakitar Gujar, 1984.jpg

The Gurjar people are a tribal group who have lived in Afghanistan for centuries. According to the Afghanistan news agency Pajwok Afghan News, there are currently an estimated 1.5 million Gurjar people residing in the country. The Gurjar people are predominantly found in the northeastern regions of Afghanistan, including Kapisa, Baghlan, Balkh, Kunduz, Takhar, Badakhshan, Nuristan, Laghman, Nangarhar, and Khost. They have a distinct culture and way of life.{{cite news |url=https://pajhwok.com/2021/01/13/gujars-use-andak-meat-for-coronavirus-treatment/ |title=Gujars use Andak meat for coronavirus treatment

|date=January 2021 |access-date=15 March 2023|last1=Hamdard

|first1=Azizullah |quote=Reaching in numbers almost 1.5 million, Gujar tribe men and women live in parts of Kapesa, Baghlan, Balkh, Kunduz, Takhar, Badakhshan, Nuristan, Laghman, Nangarhar and Khost provinces.

}}

The old Afghanistan constitution recognised 14 ethnic groups officially with the Gurjar ethnic group being one of them.

Many Gurjar tribal people in Afghanistan are deprived of their rights and their living conditions are poor. They have sometimes been internally displaced in the past by illegal militias; for example, during 2018 around 200 Gurjar families were displaced from their homes in Farkhar district in Takhar province.{{cite news |url=https://pajhwok.com/2018/02/06/gujar-tribesmen-forcibly-evicted-takhar-homes/ |title=Gujar tribesmen forcibly evicted from Takhar homes

|date=February 2018 |access-date=20 March 2023

}}

During the corona virus pandemic, the Gurjar people in the northeastern province of Badakhshan used Andak meat to treat the corona virus, due to lack of clinics and other health facilities in their areas. The Gurjar Tribe Council deemed the meat of the Andak animal as haram (forbidden) but many Gurjar people in the area said they had no choice.

Gurjar tribal leaders met with Hamid Karzai when he was President of Afghanistan. They demanded schools and hospitals be built in their areas and the Afghan government give scholarships to Gurjar students to study abroad.{{cite news |url=https://pajhwok.com/2013/09/11/karzai-assures-consider-gujar-tribe-demands/

|title=Karzai assures to consider Gujar tribe demands

|date=September 2013 |access-date=15 March 2023

}}

Today, the Gurjars are classified under the Other Backward Class category in some states in India.{{Cite news |url=http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/asia/article2608724.ece |title=India's Gujjar caste fight for a downgrade |first=Jeremy |last=Page |work=The Times |date=30 May 2008 |access-date=1 December 2009 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131104003944/http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/asia/article2608724.ece |archive-date=4 November 2013 |url-status=dead}} However, in Jammu and Kashmir and parts of Himachal Pradesh, they are designated as a Scheduled Tribe under the Indian government's reservation program of positive discrimination. Hindu Gurjars were assimilated into several varnas.{{Cite book|last=Sharma|first=R. S.|title=Early medieval Indian society: a study in feudalisation|publisher=Orient Longman Private Limited|year=2003|page=207|quote=It would be wrong to think that all foreigners were accepted as kshatriya and Rajputs for, in course of time, the Gujar people broke up into brahmans, banias, potters, goldsmiths, not to speak of herdsmen and cultivators (kunbis), who were looked upon as sudras. |isbn=978-81-250-2523-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i_sIE1sO5kwC&pg=PA207|access-date=30 November 2009}}

Gurjars form an important component of Delhi. They have combined their traditional occupation of pastoralism and marginal cultivation over a large area in and around Delhi.{{Cite journal |title=Demographic Study of Gujjars of Delhi: Population Structure and Socio-cultural Profile|year=2004 |doi=10.1080/09709274.2004.11905710|last1=Dabral|first1=Shweta|last2=Malik|first2=S.L.|journal=Journal of Human Ecology|volume=16|pages=17–24 |s2cid=55355163| issn = 0970-9274 }}

The Gurjar community in Haryana has set elaborate guidelines for solemnizing marriages and holding other functions.{{cite web

|url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2003/20030803/ncr1.htm#4

|title=Anti-dowry campaign renewed before marriage season

|author=Chattar Pal Tanwar

|work=The Tribune |location=Chandigarh

|date=3 August 2003

|access-date=31 May 2007

}} In a mahapanchayat ("the great panchayat"), the Gujjar community decided that those who sought dowry would be excommunicated from the society.{{cite web

|url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2003/20030630/ncr1.htm#5

|title=No band, no dhol, and just 11 baratis

|author=Parmindar Singh

|work=The Tribune |location=Chandigarh

|date=29 June 2003

|access-date=31 May 2007

}}

File:Shri Devnarayan BhagwanVeerGurjar.JPG are organized two times in a year at Demali, Maalasheri, Asind and Jodhpuriya]]

File:SawaibhojGurjar.jpg, one of the 24 Gujar brothers collectively known as Bagaravats, at Dev Dham Jodhpuriya temple.]]

The Rajasthani Gurjars worship Surya, Devnarayan (an avatar of Vishnu), Shiva and Bhavani.{{cite book|title=Bards, ballads and boundaries: an ethnographic atlas of music traditions in West Rajasthan|author=Daniel Neuman|author2=Shubha Chaudhuri|author3=Komal Kothari|publisher=Seagull|year=2007|quote=Devnarayan is worshipped as an avatar or incarnation of Vishnu. This epic is associated with the Gujar caste|isbn=978-1905422074|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/bardsballadsboun00neum}}{{cite book|title=Indian studies: past & present, Volume 11|publisher=Today & Tomorrow's Printers & Publishers|year=1970|page=385|quote=The Gujars of Punjab, North Gujarat and Western Rajasthan worship Sitala and Bhavani}}

In Rajasthan, some members of the Gurjar community resorted to violent protests over the issue of reservation in 2006 and 2007. They demanded a change in their status from Other Backward Class (OBC) to Scheduled Tribe (ST). They felt marginalized and faced livelihood crises. During the 2003 election to the Rajasthan assembly, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) promised them Scheduled Tribe status.{{cite web

|url=http://www.countercurrents.org/rahi060608.htm

|title= Gujjar of Rajasthan and ST Status

|publisher=Countercurrents.org

|date=6 June 2008

|access-date=24 June 2009

}}{{Cite journal |last=Mayaram |first=Shail |date=June 2014 |title=Pastoral predicaments: The Gujars in history |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0069966714525163 |journal=Contributions to Indian Sociology |language=en |volume=48 |issue=2 |pages=191–222 |doi=10.1177/0069966714525163 |issn=0069-9667}} However, the party failed to keep its promise after coming to the power, resulting in protests by the Gurjars in September 2006.{{cite web

|url=http://in.news.yahoo.com/060905/139/67ale.html

|title=Gujjar community goes berserk in Rajasthan

|publisher=Yahoo! News

|date=5 September 2006

|access-date=31 May 2007

}} {{dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}

In May 2007, during violent protests over the reservation issue, members of the Gurjar community clashed with the police.{{Cite news |url=http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200705301541.htm |title=Gujjar unrest: CPI(M) demands judicial probe |work=The Hindu |date=30 May 2007 |access-date=31 May 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927215605/http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200705301541.htm |archive-date=27 September 2007}} Subsequently, the Gurjar protested violently, under various groups including the Gurjar Sangarsh Samiti,{{cite web |url=http://www.zeenews.com/articles.asp?aid=374252&sid=REG&ssid= |title= Talks between Rajasthan Government, Gujjars collapse |publisher=Zee News |date=30 May 2007 |access-date=31 May 2007 }} Gurjar Mahasabha{{cite web |url=http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/May302007/national200705304597.asp?section=updatenews |title=Gujjars seek resignation of Minister Kalulal Gujjar |work=Deccan Herald|date=30 May 2007

|access-date=31 May 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070929131756/http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/May302007/national200705304597.asp?section=updatenews |archive-date = 29 September 2007}} and the Gurjar Action Committee.{{Cite news|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Four_dead_in_Gujjar-police_clash/articleshow/2082202.cms |title=Four dead in Gujjar-police clash in Rajasthan |work=The Times of India |date=29 May 2007 |access-date=31 May 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090113193527/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Four_dead_in_Gujjar-police_clash/articleshow/2082202.cms |archive-date=13 January 2009 }} Presently, the Gurjars in Rajasthan are classified as Other Backward Classes.{{cite web |url=http://ncbc.nic.in/backward-classes/rajasthan.htm |title=Central List of Other Backward Classes: Rajasthan |publisher=National Commission for Backward Classes |access-date=31 May 2007}}

On 5 June 2007, Gurjars rioted over their desire to be added to the central list of tribes who are given favoured treatment under the reservation system However, other tribes on the list oppose this request, as it would make it harder to obtain the few positions already set aside.{{Cite magazine|magazine=Time |date=5 June 2007 |url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1628192,00.html?xid=rss-world&iid=sphere-inline-bottom |access-date=26 August 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-date=1 October 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071001004511/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1628192,00.html?xid=rss-world&iid=sphere-inline-bottom |title=The Race to the Bottom of India's Ladder}}

In December 2007, the Akhil Bhartiya Gurjar Mahasabha ("All-India Gurjar Council") stated that the community would boycott the BJP, which was in power in Rajasthan.{{Cite news |title=Gurjar community 'threatens' to boycott BJP |url=http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/holnus/004200712311013.htm |work=The Hindu |date=31 December 2007 |access-date=31 December 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090112093120/http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/holnus/004200712311013.htm |archive-date=12 January 2009}} But in 2009 the Gurjar community was supporting BJP so that they could be politically benefitted. Kirori Singh Bainsla fought and lost on the BJP ticket. In the early 2000s, the Gurjar community in Dang region of Rajasthan was also in news its falling sex ratio, unavailability of brides, and the resultant polyandry.{{Cite news

|url=http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/mag/2003/08/31/stories/2003083100250400.htm

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040321101203/http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/mag/2003/08/31/stories/2003083100250400.htm

|url-status=dead

|archive-date=21 March 2004

|title=Men without women

|author=Manipadma Jena

|work=The Hindu

|date=3 August 2003

|access-date=31 May 2007

}}{{cite web

|url=http://www.nationalcatholicreporter.org/globalpers/gp021505.htm

|title=Diminishing returns

|author=Astrid Lobo Gajiwala

|work=National Catholic Reporter

|date=7 February 2005

|access-date=31 May 2007

}}

{{See also|2008 caste violence in Rajasthan}}

{{as of|2022}}, the Gurjars in Madhya Pradesh are classified as Other Backward Classes.{{cite web

|url=http://www.ncbc.nic.in/user_panel/GazetteResolution.aspx?Value=mPICjsL1aLuPAiTDwaBMRTkcitPtwFoYM%2fvPkOo88fWK%2fs%2fLWkaxMKHeos%2fc%2fKys

|title=Central List of Other Backward Classes: Madhya Pradesh

|publisher=National Commission for Backward Classes

|access-date=22 January 2023

}}

In Maharashtra, Gurjars are in very good numbers in Jalgaon District. Dode Gurjars and Dore Gurjars are listed as Other Backward Classes in Maharashtra.{{cite web

|url=http://ncbc.nic.in/backward-classes/maharashtra.html

|title=Central List of Other Backward Classes

|publisher=National Commission for Backward Classes

|access-date=31 May 2007

}}

The State took its name from the Gurjara, the land of the Gurjars, who ruled the area during the 700s and 800s.{{Cite web|title=History of Gujarat|url=https://gujaratindia.gov.in/about-gujarat/history-1.htm|website=Gujrat State Portal|access-date=18 May 2021|archive-date=19 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190219015743/https://gujaratindia.gov.in/about-gujarat/history-1.htm|url-status=dead}}

They are listed among the Other Backward Classes of Gujarat.{{cite web|title=Central List of OBCs For the State of Gujarat|url=http://www.bcmbcmw.tn.gov.in/obc/faq/gujarat.pdf|publisher=Government of India}}

A few scholars believe that the Leva Kunbis (or Kambis) of Gujarat, a section of the Patidars, are possibly of Gurjar origin.{{cite web

|url=http://www.maharashtra.gov.in/english/gazetteer/BULDHANA/people_castes.html

|title=Buldhana: Castes

|work=Buldhana District Gazetteer

|publisher=Gazetteers Department, Cultural Affairs Department of Government of Maharashtra

|access-date=31 May 2007

}}{{Cite book

|last=Panjabi

|first=Kewalram Lalchand

|title =The Indomitable Sardar

|year =1977

|publisher =Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan

|page=4

|quote=Vallabhbhai Patel belonged to the famous clan of Leva Gujar Patidars who played a notable role in the history of Gujarat. They were Gujars who came from Punjab and had occupied the rich charotar land between Mahi and Tapi rivers.

}} However, several others state that the Patidars are Kurmis or Kunbis (Kanbis);{{Cite book

|last=Pocock

|first=David Francis

|title=Kanbi and Patidar: A Study of the Patidar Community of Gujarat

|year=1972

|publisher=Clarendon Press

|isbn=978-0-19-823175-2

|url-access=registration

|url=https://archive.org/details/kanbipatidarstud0000poco

}} Gurjars are included in the OBC list in Gujarat but Patidars are not.

Gurjars of North Gujarat, along with those of Western Rajasthan and Punjab, worship Sitala and Bhavani.

{{As of|2001}}, the Gurjars in parts of Himachal Pradesh were classified as a Scheduled Tribe.{{cite web|publisher=Census of India: Government of India |url=http://censusindia.gov.in/Tables_Published/SCST/scst_main.html |date=7 March 2007 |title=List of Scheduled Tribes |access-date=27 November 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100605042409/http://censusindia.gov.in/Tables_Published/SCST/scst_main.html |archive-date=5 June 2010}}

File:BAKARWALS_RAJOURI.jpg

The Gurjars and Bakerwals tribes of Jammu and Kashmir were declared a Scheduled Tribe (ST) in 1991.{{cite web|url=https://tribal.nic.in/DivisionsFiles/clm/17.pdf|title= Scheduled Tribe Order |publisher= Government of India, Tribal Affairs Department }} At the 2001 census, they were found principally in Rajouri, Poonch, Reasi, Kishtwar district, with presences elsewhere.{{cite web

|url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/

|title=Jammu & Kashmir Data Highlights: The Scheduled Tribes

|work=Census of India 2001

|publisher=Office of the Registrar General, India

|access-date=31 May 2007

}} It is believed that Gurjars migrated to Jammu and Kashmir from Gujarat (via Rajasthan) and Hazara district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.{{Cite book

| last =Kapoor

| first =A. K.

|author2=M. K. Raha |author3=D. Basu |author4=Satwanti Kapoor

| title =Ecology and man in the Himalayas

| year =1994

| publisher =M. D. Publications

| isbn =978-81-85880-16-7

| pages =43–44

}}

{{As of|2011}}, the Gurjars and the Bakarwals in Jammu and Kashmir were classified as Scheduled Tribes constitute 12% of the total population of Jammu and Kashmir. However, they claim that they constitute more than 20% of the population, and allege undercounting because of their nomadic lifestyle, saying that when the censuses were held in 2001 and 2011, half of their population had been in the upper reaches of the Himalaya.{{cite web|url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/archive/features/gujjars-bakerwals-seek-special-census-373095|title= Gujjars, Bakerwals seek special census |work=The Tribune |location=New Delhi}} According to the 2011 Census of India, Gurjars are the most populous scheduled tribe in Jammu and Kashmir, having a population of nearly 1.5 million. Nearly all of them follow Islam.{{cite web|url=https://tribalaffairs.jk.gov.in/StPopu.pdf|title= Tribal Population of Gujjars, Bakerwals|publisher= Government of Jammu and Kashmir, Tribal Affairs Department }}

The Gurjars of Jammu and Kashmir in 2007 demanded that this tribal community be treated as a linguistic minority in the erstwhile state and provided with constitutional safeguards for their language Gojri. They also pressured the state government to urge the central government to include Gojri in the list of official languages of India.{{cite web|url=http://www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=128044|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120904180135/http://www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=128044|url-status=dead|archive-date=4 September 2012|title=Meri News|publisher=Meri News|access-date=16 April 2009}}

In 2002, some Gurjars and Bakarwals in Jammu and Kashmir demanded a separate state called Gujaristan for Gujjar and Bakarwal communities, under the banner of All India Gurjar Parishad.{{cite web

|url = http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=13233

|title = Gujjars, Bakerwals demand Gujaristan in J&K

|work = Indian Express

|date = 29 July 2002

|access-date = 31 May 2007

|url-status = dead

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20050220224316/http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=13233

|archive-date = 20 February 2005

}} Gurjars and Bakarwals have at times been targeted by militants of the insurgency in the territory, such as during the Kot Charwal and Teli Katha massacres.

{{Main|Van Gujjar people}}

File:OpenSpeaks-Gju-Maari Jaban Maari Birsa-Taukeer Alam-Van Gujjari Wedding.webm sharing the Van Gujjar wedding rituals and clothings]]

The Van Gujjars ("forest Gurjars") are found in the Shivalik Hills area of Uttarakhand. The Van Gujjars follow Islam, and they have their own clans, similar to the Hindu gotras.{{cite web

|url = http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/businessline/2000/09/04/stories/100444m8.htm

|title = Outside the jungle book

|author = Radhakrishna Rao

|website = The Hindu Business Line

|date = 4 September 2000

|access-date = 31 May 2007

|url-status = dead

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070528103747/http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/businessline/2000/09/04/stories/100444m8.htm

|archive-date = 28 May 2007

}} They are a pastoral semi-nomadic community, practising transhumance. In the winter season, the Van Gujjars migrate with herds of semi-wild water buffalo to the Shivalik Hills at the foot of the Himalayas, and in summer, they migrate to alpine pastures higher up the Himalayas. The Gurjars sell milk to local peoples as their primary source of income. They treat their animals with great care and do not eat them nor sell them for meat.{{cite book |title=Himalaya Bound: One Family's Quest to Save Their Animals - and an Ancient Way of Life |publisher=Pegasus Books |author=Michael Benanav |year=2018 }}{{page needed|date=October 2023}}

The Van Gujjars have had conflicts with forest authorities, who prohibited human and livestock populations inside reserved parks. However, India's Forest Rights Act of 2006 granted rights to "traditional forest dwellers" to the lands they have relied on for generations. The conflict between local forest officials, who claim rights over the newly created parks, and the thousand year nomadic traditions of the Van Gujjars has been ongoing.{{cite web |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-South-Central/2009/0731/p17s07-wosc.html |title=Is there room for India's nomads? |work=Christian Science Monitor |author=Michael Benanav |date=31 July 2009 |access-date=8 November 2020}}

It has been estimated that Gujjars comprise 20% of Pakistan's total population.{{Cite web |date=3 June 2007 |title=Who are the Gujjars? |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india/who-are-the-gujjars/story-cHGOp2jkDxjWspEpXZuBAM.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240815112219/https://www.hindustantimes.com/india/who-are-the-gujjars/story-cHGOp2jkDxjWspEpXZuBAM.html |archive-date=15 August 2024 |website=Hindustan Times |quote=In Pakistan, they comprise as much as 20 per cent of the population.}}

In 1999, British anthropologist Stephen Lyon estimated their total population in Pakistan to number 30 million and theorized the notion of "Gujarism", the fact that Gujjars in Pakistan are conscious of their identity and often base their social activities, such as local political participation, on this basis, what he calls kin-network activism.{{Cite web |last=Lyon |first=Stephen |date=May 1999 |title=Gujars and Gujarism: simple quaum versus network activism |url=https://era.anthropology.ac.uk/Era_Resources/Era/SLyon/Reports/gujarism.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240818093731/https://era.anthropology.ac.uk/Era_Resources/Era/SLyon/Reports/gujarism.html |archive-date=18 August 2024 |website=University of Kent}}

Gujjars are mostly found in the country's Punjab province, where they gave their name to cities and towns such as Gujranwala, Gujar Khan and Gujrat, but for economics reasons recently they have emigrated to cities such as Karachi.{{Cite book |last=Tyagi |first=Vidya Prakash |title=Martial races of undivided India |date=2009 |publisher=Kalpaz |isbn=978-81-7835-775-1 |location=Delhi |pages=240}}

Gujjars are also present in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where they're the third largest ethnic groups after the Pashtuns and the Awan, found in the Hazara region as well places like Dir, Swat, and Bajaur, often being conversant in Pashto, the provincial language.{{Cite web |title=Races and Tribes |url=https://kp.gov.pk/page/races_and_tribes |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240818094524/https://kp.gov.pk/page/races_and_tribes |archive-date=18 August 2024 |website=Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa}}

In Swat, Pir Samiullah was a Gujjar community leader who was the first to raise a private tribal army against the Pakistani Taliban, with around 10,000 men, but was eventually defeated and executed by the Taliban in 2008, who then desecrated his dead body by hanging it publicly.{{Cite web |last=Roggio |first=Bill |date=17 December 2008 |title=Taliban desecrate body of slain opposing tribal leader |url=https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2008/12/taliban_desecrate_bo.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240818151733/https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2008/12/taliban_desecrate_bo.php |archive-date=18 August 2024 |website=FDD's Long War Journal |quote=Samiullah was the first tribal leader in Swat to raise a lashkar, or tribal army, to oppose the Taliban. He claimed to have organized more than 10,000 tribesmen to oppose the Taliban and protect 20 villages. Samiullah and his followers are members of the Gujjar community, which is a group distinct from the dominant Pashtun tribal confederations that support the Taliban.}}

In Azad Kashmir, they are one of the region's largest communities, by some estimates even being considered the single largest group with 800,000 individuals.{{cite web |title="With Friends Like These...": Human Rights Violations in Azad Kashmir: II. Background |url=https://www.hrw.org/reports/2006/pakistan0906/3.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308175448/https://www.hrw.org/reports/2006/pakistan0906/3.htm |archive-date=March 8, 2021 |access-date=June 14, 2019 |publisher=Human Rights Watch |quote=While the Gujjars, numbering close to eight hundred thousand, are possibly the largest such group (...)}}{{cite web | last=Agency | first=Anadolu | title=Caste, ethnic loyalties decide poll favourites in AJK | website=The Express Tribune | date=2021-07-17 | url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/2311080/caste-ethnic-loyalties-decide-poll-favourites-in-ajk | access-date=2024-10-25}}

• Gurjaradesa
• Gurjaras of Mandavyapura
• Bhadanakas
• Muslim Gujjars
• Pratihar Gurjars
• List of Gurjar clans
• List of Gurjars

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book |first=Brajadulal |last=Chattopadhyaya |title=The Making of Early Medieval India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AmVuAAAAMAAJ |year=1994 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780195634150}}
• {{cite book|last=Singh|first=David Emmanuel|title=Islamization in Modern South Asia: Deobandi Reform and the Gujjar Response|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=upk5AgAAQBAJ|year=2012|location=Boston|publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn=978-1-61451-185-4}}

• {{citation|last=Rawat|first=Ajay Singh|title=Man and Forests: The Khatta and Gujjar Settlements of Sub-Himalayan Tarai|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XvNQU4VFrbgC|year=1993|publisher=Indus Publishing|isbn=978-81-85182-97-1}}
• {{citation |last=Hāṇḍā |first=Omacanda |title=Textiles, Costumes, and Ornaments of the Western Himalaya |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JFPnh9B5zncC&pg=PA257 |year=1998 |publisher=Indus Publishing |isbn=978-81-7387-076-7 |pages=257–}}

{{Commons category}}

{{Gurjar clans}}{{Social groups of Rajasthan}}{{Social groups of Maharashtra}}{{Ethnic groups in Afghanistan}}

{{Ethnic groups, tribes and clans of the Punjab}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Ethnic groups in India

Category:Ethnic groups in Afghanistan

Category:Social groups of Rajasthan

Category:Social groups of Gujarat

Category:Social groups of Jammu and Kashmir

Category:Social groups of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Category:Social groups of Uttar Pradesh

Category:Social groups of Madhya Pradesh

Category:Social groups of Maharashtra

Category:Social groups of Haryana

Category:Social groups of Punjab, Pakistan

Category:Social groups of Punjab, India

Category:Social groups of Himachal Pradesh

Category:Ethnic groups in Kunar Province

Category:Hindu dynasties

Category:Punjabi tribes

Category:Hindkowan tribes

Category:Demographic history of India

Category:Pastoralists

Category:Scheduled Tribes of Jammu and Kashmir

Category:Scheduled Tribes of Himachal Pradesh

Category:Indian castes